The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title from 2021, presents a unique load profile that heavily favors raw GPU throughput. In this analysis of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination, the measured frame rates reveal a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, but with distinct characteristics that separate it from typical action titles. The data indicates that this pairing is capable of delivering a smooth experience at most configurations, though the most demanding presets at 4K will test its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, with the CPU showing no signs of becoming a bottleneck. At the Low preset, the system delivers 162.2 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 150.4 FPS at 1440p, and finally 123 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern—a modest 8% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a further 18% decline from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the RTX 5070 Ti has ample headroom at lower resolutions, and the frame rate is only mildly constrained by pixel count.

The High preset shows a different story. At 1080p, the average is 83.1 FPS, which falls to 66.8 FPS at 1440p (a 20% drop) and then to 53.7 FPS at 4K (another 20% drop). This steeper decline suggests that the High preset introduces effects that scale more aggressively with resolution, likely including higher-resolution textures and more complex lighting calculations. The gap between Low and High at 4K is substantial: 123 FPS versus 53.7 FPS, a difference of 129%, which highlights how much performance is traded for visual fidelity.

The Ultra preset is where the GPU begins to struggle at higher resolutions. At 1080p, it still manages 67.7 FPS, but this falls to 56 FPS at 1440p and plummets to 43.4 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K drop of 36% is the largest percentage decline across all presets, suggesting that Ultra settings include memory bandwidth-intensive features that tax the 896.0 GB/s GDDR7 interface. The data clearly indicates that the limiting component at 4K Ultra is the GPU's rasterization throughput, not the CPU, given the Ryzen 5 7500F's strong single-thread performance of 974 in 3dmark_single_thread.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K smoothly?

A: Yes, but only on lower presets. At Low settings, the average FPS is 123, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings produce 74.4 FPS, which is also playable. However, High and Ultra settings drop to 53.7 FPS and 43.4 FPS respectively, which fall below the ideal smoothness threshold for many players.

Q: What is the best resolution for the Ultra preset?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where Ultra achieves a playable frame rate, with an average of 67.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 56 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 43.4 FPS, making those configurations less desirable for a consistent experience.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500F perform in this game?

A: The CPU's performance is more than adequate for this title. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22799 and single-core score of 3218 suggest no bottleneck, and the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 6376 is also ample for a game that is primarily GPU-limited.

Q: Is there a large performance gap between Low and Medium settings?

A: The gap varies by resolution. At 1080p, Low produces 162.2 FPS while Medium produces 116.8 FPS, a 28% difference. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 35% (150.4 vs 98.5 FPS), and at 4K, it widens slightly to 39% (123 vs 74.4 FPS). The difference is noticeable but not as dramatic as the jump from Medium to High.

Q: What is the performance difference between the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 4080?

A: According to the benchmark data, the RTX 5070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 52086, while the RTX 4080 scores 52085, a delta of 0%. This indicates they are effectively tied in synthetic performance, though real-world game results may vary depending on driver optimizations.

Q: Should players prioritize resolution or settings for the best experience?

A: The data suggests that Medium settings at 1440p (98.5 FPS) or 4K (74.4 FPS) offer the best balance of visual quality and performance. High settings at 1080p (83.1 FPS) are also viable, but the jump to Medium at higher resolutions provides a smoother experience without sacrificing too much visual detail.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear optimal configuration for this hardware combination. For players seeking the highest fidelity without compromising smoothness, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the standout choice, delivering an average of 98.5 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while still offering a significant visual upgrade over Low settings, which produce 150.4 FPS at the same resolution but with considerably reduced effects.

For 4K displays, the Medium preset at 74.4 FPS is the recommended target. It is the only 4K setting that consistently exceeds the 60 FPS mark, and the 29 FPS improvement over High settings (53.7 FPS) is substantial. Players prioritizing smoothness above all else can drop to Low at 4K, which yields 123 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant given that Medium is only 49 FPS slower while offering noticeably better textures and lighting.

The High preset is best reserved for 1080p gaming, where it achieves 83.1 FPS. This offers a balance between the 116.8 FPS of Medium and the 67.7 FPS of Ultra, but the 33 FPS gap between High and Ultra at 1080p indicates that the extra settings in Ultra carry a heavy performance cost. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays, as the 67.7 FPS average is borderline playable but may exhibit stutter in demanding scenes. The data suggests avoiding Ultra at 1440p and 4K entirely, as the 56 FPS and 43.4 FPS averages respectively fall below the smoothness threshold for a horror title where reaction time is critical.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings is playable. Low produces an average of 162.2 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates the GPU is not significantly stressed. Medium drops to 116.8 FPS, still well above any playability concern. High reduces the average to 83.1 FPS, which remains smooth. Ultra brings the average down to 67.7 FPS, which is the lowest 1080p result but still generally considered acceptable for a single-player title.

At 2560x1440, the performance curve steepens. Low delivers 150.4 FPS, showing only an 11.8 FPS drop from 1080p, which confirms the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution. Medium produces 98.5 FPS, a solid result that balances fidelity and speed. High drops to 66.8 FPS, which is playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing issues may become noticeable. Ultra falls to 56 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness target and may cause discomfort for some players.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become apparent. Low still produces a respectable 123 FPS, showing the RTX 5070 Ti's raw power. Medium maintains 74.4 FPS, which is a good result for 4K gaming. High drops to 53.7 FPS, which is borderline and may exhibit noticeable judder during camera transitions common in The Medium's fixed-camera design. Ultra falls to 43.4 FPS, which is the lowest recorded value and is likely to result in a suboptimal experience, particularly during the game's dual-reality sequences that render two perspectives simultaneously.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the dominant component in this configuration, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling patterns. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for The Medium's asset streaming. The game's use of simultaneous world rendering — where two versions of the same environment are displayed side-by-side — places significant pressure on memory bandwidth, and the data suggests the GPU handles this well at Medium settings but struggles at Ultra.

The clock speeds of 2295 MHz base and 2452 MHz boost are relatively modest for a high-end card, yet the benchmark results show it performing on par with the RTX 4080, which has an identical average score of 52085 versus the 5070 Ti's 52086. This parity is achieved through the Blackwell 2.0 architecture's efficiency on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 45,600 million transistors packed into a 378 mm² die. The 8960 shading units and 70 RT cores provide substantial compute throughput, as reflected in the FP32 performance of 43.94 TFLOPS.

The GPU's 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 52086, places it in the upper echelon of consumer hardware. However, The Medium's specific requirements — notably its fixed-camera angles and heavy post-processing — mean that raw compute power is not the only factor. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (43.4 FPS) versus 4K Low (123 FPS) shows a 2.8x performance range across settings, indicating that the GPU's texture units and ROPs (280 TMUs and 96 ROPs) are heavily taxed by the higher presets. The pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s are sufficient for lower presets but become limiting factors at Ultra, where the game likely enables higher-resolution shadow maps and more complex volumetric effects.